Here at Selvedge, our staff members have picked a few festive favourites to share with readers over the holidays. Today, Head of Special Projects Ronja Brown shares with us the origin of the ubiquitous orange handled scissors as she writes about her favourite Finnish village...
Hotel Tegel at Fiskars Village. Fiskars Corporation / Fotofabriken
Fiskars Ironworks was founded in the beautiful village of Fiskars in Finland in 1649. Established to manufacture cast iron and forged goods, its surrounding villages became the centre of iron manufacturing in Finland at the time. You might recognise Fiskars from their iconic orange handled scissors used by crafters all over the world. Fiskars Village was created around the ironworks industry; complete with mills, worker housing, a laundry house, foundry and granary as well as many workshops.
The old mill at Fiskars Village. Arsi Ikäheimonen / Idealista.fi.
Today the village celebrates its craft history and serves as an idyllic home and workspace to over 100 artisans, designers and artists. You can visit their studios and take a class to learn a new craft, or purchase designs and artworks from the numerous boutiques in the village. As the industry changed, so did the uses of the buildings: the laundry is now a cafe serving Finnish delicacies, the granary operates as an exhibition space, and some of the workers' tenements have been turned into bed & breakfasts.
Janne Karvinen / Studio Oljikko, Pirjo Väisänen
Janne Karvinen / Studio Oljikko, Pirjo VäisänenThe village hosts annual exhibitions, events and markets. During winter time, you can visit the Christmas tree market, where you can select a handsome fir or spruce for your home, buy handmade presents made by local artisans, and sample seasonal delicacies or join a workshop at Studio Oljikko to create a himmeli; a traditional Finnish Christmas decoration made with straws.
You can watch a tour of the village in the winter here, produced by the local Radio Fiskars, and to find out more about Fiskars Village, please visit www.fiskarsvillage.fi.